Cloud-based identity and access management platform provider Okta is ready to leap into the channel, with the announcement of a comprehensive set of partner programs.
Okta’s partner ecosystem includes referral partners, resellers, system integrators (SIs) and independent software vendors (ISVs), each of which will work with Okta through one of two programs: Okta Solution Providers and Okta Technology Alliances.
“Our vision as a company is to deliver a future-proof identity platform that securely connects any combination of applications, users and devices,” said Frederic Kerrest, COO of Okta. “Our ability to achieve that vision depends on the quantity and quality of those connections, and the ability to implement our solutions with the ease, scale and customization that our customers require. Okta’s partner ecosystem has been and will continue to be essential in driving these efforts forward.”
The Okta Solution Providers Program applies to all referral partners, approved resellers and SIs, and is designed to enable customers to adopt, implement and customize the Okta service through trusted technology advisors. Once approved and certified, these partners will have aggressive discounts and rebates, technical and field enablement, funding for joint marketing initiatives, joint account planning and executive sponsorship to ensure the partnership and joint offerings deliver immediate value to customers.
“In an age when data and applications can be accessed across multiple devices and environments, enterprise identity management has become absolutely essential for ensuring security and a seamless end-user experience,” said Dave MacDonald, CEO of Softchoice, an Okta solution provider. “Through Okta we’re giving our clients a single, secure point of entry to any combination of applications, while centralizing administration for IT. Okta will continue to be core to our business as we help organizations reshape the way they approach technology and unleash the potential of the cloud.”
The Okta Technology Alliances (OTA) Program meanwhile covers all ISVs in the Okta Application Network (OAN), including Salesforce.com, Workday, Box and ServiceNow. With more than 2,500 applications currently supported by Okta, the charter for the OTA program is to drive customer success by delivering pre-built integrations from any combination of applications to the Okta platform.
“Some of the most common questions we get from customers are around how we can deliver SSO to the ServiceNow application and easily connect it to user stores like Active Directory,” said Fred Luddy, chief product officer of ServiceNow. “The integration we’ve built through our partnership with Okta lets us answer these questions with confidence, and actually differentiates the value that we’re able to deliver our customers. In fact, many of our customers actually ask us if we’re in the Okta Application Network before they even start to engage with us.”
